Myers is Astros’ ace for now, but will he last the season?

When you think of an ace, names like Sabathia, Halladay, Lincecum or Carpenter immediately come to mind.

Not Brett Myers. Not in the same breath as the aforementioned anyway.

The Astros’ #1 pitcher has never won a Cy Young, never won more than 14 games in a season, and he’s not your prototypical hard-throwing, strikeout pitcher. But if you’re looking for a stopper, or a bulldog to run to the mound for a key series, or a pitcher you know will give your team a chance to win every time out, look no further than the bearded former first rounder.

You could argue that Myers is a poor man’s ace, and you could point to a number of stats that are un-ace like (e.g. career WHIP or ERA), but Myers seems to be remaking his career in Houston. In fact, in 2011, he has been ace-like with a 1.77 ERA and 1.13 WHIP through the first three games. But where would he fit in New York, Atlanta, St. Louis or Philadelphia?

Since coming to Houston last season, Myers has been the go-to guy for Brad Mills, Roy Oswalt notwithstanding. Thirty-six games into his Astros’ career, he’s turned in 35 quality starts. In only one of those starts, he’s pitched less than six innings. Moreover, he’s not taxing your salary structure either, earning only $7 million in 2011. In 2012, it’s $11 million and there’s a $10 million option for 2013.

For all the talk of players not earning their keep, the Astros have been the winners of this deal so far. But if it’s not the big question today, it may become the big question as summer sets in: Do the Astros keep him as an anchor for the next two years or do they parlay his re-tooled career into a huge fetch at the trade deadline?

Myers was part of a rich first round draft in 1999. He was the 12th pick, taken after Josh Hamilton, Josh Beckett, Eric Munson, Barry Zito and Ben Sheets and just a few picks ahead of future Astros’ bomb Jason Jennings.

He may easily have won 20 games last season with a little offense. He finished with eight no-decisions in games when he allowed two or fewer earned runs. With wins in just half of those games, Myers would have finished 18-8, undoubtedly winning a few more Cy Young votes that would have moved him up from 10th place where he finished.

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Hey, who is this guy playing shortstop for the Astros? Speaking of re-making his career, Angel Sanchez is with his fourth organization and there’s nothing in his minor league career that says “special”, much less “everyday” player. If Clint Barmes is back in a couple of weeks, Mills may be faced with a tough decision. How and where do you find a spot for Sanchez?

Astros’ pitchers are hitting .381 this season, leading the majors. Myers, J.A. Happ and Nelson Figueroa each have multi-hit games. Perhaps Mills should re-consider his options next time he goes to the bench looking for a pinch hitter.

The Astros have 10 or more hits in each of the last five games and they’re now 2-5 in games in which they score four or more runs as they try to find that 4-run magic from 2010.

For those of you who will say you predicted Sanchez’ .395 average through 11 games, how many of you would have predicted Astros’ catchers would be hitting .340?